Home › Words › S › staysailstaysailstaysail means A fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit or to another mast.Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, staysail ranks #2,165 of 42,747 for Qualifying.EtymologyFrom stay + sail.nounA fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit or to another mast.Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.forestay 77% match — A stay that extends from the top of the foremast to the bow or bowsprit of a sailing ship vs staysail →genoa 72% match — Genoa cake. vs staysail →babystay 71% match — A stay just forward of the mast, used to support the mast. vs staysail →backstay 68% match — A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper masts and provide additional support to the shrouds when the wind is abaft the beam. vs staysail →headstay 68% match — Synonym of forestay. vs staysail →jibstay 67% match — A stay (normally the forestay) to which the jib is attached vs staysail →foretopsail 66% match — The sail draped from the foretopmast. vs staysail →foresail 66% match — The lowest (and usually the largest) square sail hung on the foremast vs staysail →